Who Wants to Be a Superhero, Week 3, Season 2 [Spoilers]

Gosh, it's hard to think of much to say that isn't purely descriptive. So that's pretty much what you get, I'm afraid.

This episode featured just one main challenge for the heroes, who were taken to an amusement park to hopefully capture the evil Dr. Dark. To achieve this, they had to unlock four combination locks and open a door behind which the villain may have been hiding.

This was really a test of teamwork--the eight remaining contestants paired off into teams of two to find the combinations--the whole thing was a bit confusing, but essentially one partner had to run around the park to find the necessary clues while the other had to ride the roller coaster to get the view from above. Two of the teams (Mr. Mitzvah/Hyperstrike and Defuser/WhipSnap) included one member who really did not want to ride the coaster. Unfortunately, both runners had difficulty--Mr. Mitzvah injuring his leg and WhipSnap suffering an asthma attack. Despite this, neither was willing to ride the coaster and let their uninjured partner do the running, not a promising result. The best team, overall, seemed to be Parthenon and Basura.

The other challenge had to do with group dynamics--how the group handled the threat of a "mole" within. Turns out...no mole. The threat was there simply to sow discord, which it certainly did.

So far I'm most impressed with Parthenon, particularly after this week when he was the only contestant to refuse to take part in the group's discussion of whether Mr. Mitzvah was the mole.

There were two removals this week, both of whom had been called up the previous two weeks as well--Mr. Mitzvah (failure to bond with his teammates) and Ms. Limelight (tendency to crack under pressure).

As a viewer, it does seem to me that the challenges are fairly arbitrary, in that you never really know which behavior will be rewarded and which will be punished. Specifically, you don't know how much weight Stan will give to which "heroic" characteristics (for example, honesty or compassion?). I suppose that's necessary, or the game would be too easy, but it's a bit distracting at times.

The kids are still interested, but still, no one contestant has really grabbed their attention. Not sure how long it'll be "appointment TV" for them at this rate.